American blogger Sarah Pope, who runs the blog The Healthy Home Economist, has been the talk of the town in Philippine media the past days after Filipino Senator Tito Sotto plagiarized her blog. Sotto used in his anti-Reproductive Health Bill speech, without attribution, portions of Pope’s blog entry entitled “How the Pill Can Harm Your Future Child’s Health”.

When Sen. Sotto was asked about his mistake, he said, “Why would I quote from a blogger? She is just a blogger.” The senator’s chief of staff, Hector Villacorta, defended Sotto and said that blogs are a public domain and not covered by copyright laws.

Here are few of the similarities between Sotto’s speech and Sarah’s blog entry.

Sotto’s speech:
“According, to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, the use of the pill also causes severe gut dysbiosis. What is worse, drug induced gut imbalance is especially intractable and resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change.”

Sarah’s blog:
“According, to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, use of other drugs such as the Pill also cause severe gut dybiosis. What’s worse, drug induced gut imbalance is especially intractable and resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change.”

Sotto’s speech:
“Gut imbalance brought on through use of the pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. As a result, even if a woman eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, if she has been taking oral contraceptives for a period of time beforehand, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of all this healthy food as the lack of beneficial flora in her gut preclude this from occurring.”

Sarah’s blog:
“…gut imbalance brought on through use of The Pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. As a result, even if a women eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, if she has been taking oral contraceptives for a period of time beforehand, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of all this healthy food as the lack of beneficial flora in her gut preclude this from occurring.”

Sarah had already responded to the issue in a post and called the Philippine senator a lying thief.

In a recent interview with ANC Tonight, Sarah Pope said that Sotto should have apologized over the plagiarism issue. She said that it was a poor behavior from the part of Sen. Sotto and the Filipino people should take note of it.

Pope needs a sincere apology from Sotto and not the “ridiculous, insulting, rude” comments from the latter’s staff. That’s the only way to end this issue!

Will Sen. Vicente Tito Sotto humble himself and take Sarah Pope’s challenge?

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